"I changed my mind about periods. Now I support my sister during her periods".
These are the words of a schoolboy from Maharashtra who, not long ago, viewed menstruation as impure, shameful and even abnormal due to deeply rooted social conditioning. His voice of change is among the many such shaped by Ujaas, over four years of consistent effort to script a holistic shift in India’s menstrual health landscape.
For centuries, periods have been perceived as a ‘women’s issue’, not only by men who are a part of their families, workplaces and communities, but by women themselves. Silence further perpetuated myths, stigmas and taboos. As a young organisation, it continues to be one of our biggest challenges to bring these muted conversations into the mainstream.
The first step is, of course, acknowledgement, which opens the door to awareness and, in turn, meaningful action. But acknowledgement cannot rest with women alone. While working with communities at the grassroot level, we have realised that menstrual health is shaped by a wider ecosystem that includes families, schools, healthcare providers, workplaces and local leadership. When the onus shifts beyond the individual and becomes a community responsibility, we shall witness a societal shift. While menstruation is solely a woman’s biological reality, effective menstrual health management is influenced by factors that extend far beyond her.
From the outset, Advaitesha envisioned Ujaas as a way to build an ecosystem around period poverty, one that moves beyond awareness to sustained understanding and shared responsibility. This vision is brought to fruition at the grassroots level through a comprehensive and structured approach that involves all stakeholder groups by breaking taboos, building awareness about adopting healthy menstrual management practices and providing sustainable interventions.
Our team has conducted around 17,000 awareness sessions across the country so far, touching over 6,00,000 people. These efforts are finally beginning to bear fruit, with the figures projecting an optimistic future. The Ujaas Impact Report 2024-25 is deeply reassuring in more ways than one. It not only captures the inroads we have made, step by step, but also illustrates how we have tried to address multiple interconnected issues cohesively. While these early shifts are meaningful, they underscore how much remains to be done. Deep-rooted beliefs take time to undo and the work ahead remains both necessary and ongoing.
The goal is to enable more such shifts, not just in perspectives and practices, but in building an ecosystem that drives systematic changes at the policy and community levels. We intend to join hands with other organisations working in this space to document lived experiences, identify the gaps in existing policy and advocate for action that encourages young girls’ increased participation in schools.